Hi, I'm Florence, a 22-year-old writer, crafter, bookworm and all-round procrastinator who lives in the South of England. In this blog I review all the books I read, post various things that come to my mind (when they're too long for Twitter), and provide exciting updates on what's happening in my life!

Thursday, 17 May 2012

What's on the Bathroom Floor this Week?

It's no secret in my family that we all like to read in the bath. And, maybe, occasionally on the toilet. Is it so wrong? Is there really any shame in multitasking in such a way??? No. Of course not. That's why the books we've been reading over the past week are conveniently stacked on the bathroom floor.

The Book of General Ignorance - this is my book but I've never managed to read all the way through it. It claims to be 'A Quite Interesting Book' but I don't find it quite interesting, or even a tiny bit interesting. It's just annoyingly pedantic. I hate people who feel the need to smugly correct you when you've got a tiny insignificant detail wrong, even when it's completely irrelevant to the topic at hand. And here's an entire book of smug corrections to things that will rarely be an issue in life. Oh, silly me, I thought a peanut was a nut, but it turned out to be a fruit, and now we're all going to die a horrible death because of this grave error!

Anyway it's in the bathroom because my boyfriend John really loves it, and even when I hide it on my shelf because I'm sick of the sight of it, it mysteriously returns to the bathroom floor whenever he comes round.

Revolution in the Head, Ian Macdonald - I haven't actually read this book, so I can't make any comment really. But obviously it's about the Beatles records and the sixties. Maybe I'll start reading it this week and report back.

Ten Years in an Open Necked Shirt, John Cooper Clarke - This is the complete written work of the punk poet John Cooper Clarke (with intriguing titles such as You Never See a Nipple in the Daily Express). The poems are all available to read on his website here, so I'd recommend checking them out, or listening to his recorded readings of them, since that is how they are meant to be performed. My favourites are Health Fanatic and Twat!

Northern Lights, Philip Pullman - This is on the bathroom floor because I had to do an exam on it a few weeks ago, comparing its representation of women with that of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (Northern Lights won by a long shot). I'm not generally a huge fantasy fan, but I did enjoy Northern Lights. It is called The Golden Compass in America, just like The Philosopher's Stone is called The Sorcerers Stone. Now, the reason The Philosopher's Stone had its name changed is because they thought American children would struggle with the concept of a philosopher. I guess philosophers don't sound as EXTREME as sorcerers. But why change the name of Northern Lights?

Well I asked Uncle Google, and it turns out that the original title was 'The Golden Compass Says...' and when Pullman sent it to American publishers it still had this title. When he changed the name it was too late for the American publishers to do anything about it, since they had already prepared the covers. So there it is.

How to be a Woman, Caitlin Moran - This is a laugh-out-loud read, part memoir and part 'baby's first steps into feminism', great for opening people's eyes to what feminism is really about: not the terrible stereotype of shrieking women with hairy armpits burning bras and trying to take away men's rights, but the reality of people of either sex from all walks of life who simply feel that women are just as human and deserving of rights as men are! Though I didn't agree with all of the author's points, I think this is an interesting and entertaining read, Caitlin Moran is hilarious and very likeable, and I hope this book will change people's minds about what feminism actually means!

Tune in next week for more 'What's on the Bathroom Floor?' How exciting!!